Ice dispenser system for a refrigeration appliance, refrigeration appliance, and method of making ice

ABSTRACT

An ice dispenser system for a refrigeration appliance includes an ice maker located within the refrigeration appliance for making ice cubes. The ice maker has an ice making state and a paused state. An ice bucket is located within the refrigeration appliance located so as to receive the ice cubes from the ice maker. The ice bucket is removably securable in the refrigeration appliance in an ice-making position. A sensor is located within the refrigeration appliance, the sensor sensing and providing a signal as to whether the ice bucket is in the ice making position. The ice maker is placed in the ice making state only when the sensor provides a signal that the ice bucket is in the ice making position. A related refrigeration appliance and method of making ice are also disclosed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to an ice dispenser system,a refrigeration appliance, and a method of making ice wherein an icemaker is halted if portions of the ice making assembly are not installedcorrectly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various ice maker designs have been proposed for refrigerationappliances such as commercial or home refrigerators and/or freezers. Incertain automatic ice makers, water is provided from an external sourceto a chilled ice cube mold. Once the water freezes into ice, the icecubes in the mold are harvested and the cycle is repeated. Ice cuberemoval can be assisted by a brief heating of the mold to separate theice cubes from the mold, if desired. Often, a sensor is present todetect an ice level in the ice bucket as ice builds up in the ice bucketas the cycle progresses. If the ice level in the bucket reaches acertain predetermined amount (i.e., the ice bucket is full), the cycleis halted until ice is removed from the ice bucket thereby lowering theice level. In many refrigeration appliances, this cycle repeatsautomatically until the ice level sensor indicates a full ice bucket.

While such systems generally work well and as intended to provide aconstant supply of ice and full ice bucket when desired, user misuse cancause certain issues. For example, if a user fails to return an icebucket to its proper location within the refrigeration appliance, theice making cycle may deposit ice in an undesired location within therefrigeration appliance. Further, the ice level sensor within the icebucket may not operate properly to stop ice creation at the most optimumtime. Therefore, an improved ice making and dispensing system thatprovides an even more reliable supply of ice, only when and wheredesired, would be welcome.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in thefollowing description, or may be obvious from the description, or may belearned through practice of the invention.

According to certain aspects of the disclosure, an ice dispenser systemfor a refrigeration appliance includes an ice maker located within therefrigeration appliance for making ice cubes. The ice maker has an icemaking state and a paused state. An ice bucket is located within therefrigeration appliance located so as to receive the ice cubes from theice maker. The ice bucket is removably securable in the refrigerationappliance in an ice-making position. A sensor is located within therefrigeration appliance, the sensor sensing and providing a signal as towhether the ice bucket is in the ice making position. The ice maker isplaced in the ice making state only when the sensor provides a signalthat the ice bucket is in the ice making position. Various options andmodifications are possible.

According to certain other aspects of the disclosure, a refrigerationappliance includes a refrigerated cabinet and an ice maker locatedwithin the refrigerated cabinet for making ice cubes. The ice maker hasan ice making state and a paused state. An ice bucket is located withinthe refrigerated cabinet located so as to receive the ice cubes from theice maker. The ice bucket is removably securable in the refrigeratedcabinet in an ice-making position. A sensor is located within therefrigerated cabinet, the sensor sensing and providing a signal as towhether the ice bucket is in the ice making position. The ice maker isplaced in the ice making state only when the sensor provides a signalthat the ice bucket is in the ice making position. Again, variousoptions and modifications are possible.

According to certain other aspects of the invention, a method ofcontrolling an ice maker for a refrigeration appliance with a removableice bucket includes sensing whether the ice bucket is in an ice makingposition, operating the ice maker to make ice if the sensing step sensesthat the ice bucket is in the ice making position, and halting operationof the ice maker if the sensing step senses that the bucket is not inthe ice making position. As above, various options and modifications arepossible.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with reference to the followingdescription and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which areincorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrateembodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serveto explain the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including thebest mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is setforth in the specification, which makes reference to the appendedfigures, in which:

FIG. 1 provides a front view of a refrigeration appliance with its doorsclosed;

FIG. 2 provides a front view of the refrigeration appliance of FIG. 1with its doors opened;

FIG. 3 provides a partially exploded perspective view of an ice makingassembly according to certain aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 provides a view of the ice making assembly of FIG. 3 with the icebucket in the housing;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the ice making assembly of FIG. 3 showingan electromechanical sensor;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view as in FIG. 5, showing a weight sensor;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view as in FIG. 5, showing an optical sensor; and

FIG. 8 is a flow chart outlining one possible method of operation forthe disclosed systems.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention,one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Eachexample is provided by way of explanation of the invention, notlimitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be madein the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit ofthe invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as partof one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a stillfurther embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present inventioncovers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary refrigeration appliance 10depicted as a refrigerator in which ice-making assemblies in accordancewith aspects of the present invention may be utilized. It should beappreciated that the appliance of FIG. 1 is for illustrative purposesonly and that the present invention is not limited to any particulartype, style, or configuration of refrigeration appliance, and that suchappliance may include any manner of refrigerator, freezer,refrigerator/freezer combination, and so forth.

Referring to FIG. 2, the refrigerator 10 includes a fresh food storagecompartment 12 and a freezer storage compartment 14, with thecompartments arranged side-by-side and contained within an outer case 16and inner liners 18 and 20 generally molded from a suitable plasticmaterial. In smaller refrigerators 10, a single liner is formed and amullion spans between opposite sides of the liner to divide it into afreezer storage compartment and a fresh food storage compartment. Theouter case 16 is normally formed by folding a sheet of a suitablematerial, such as pre-painted steel, into an inverted U-shape to formtop and side walls of the outer case 16. A bottom wall of the outer case16 normally is formed separately and attached to the case side walls andto a bottom frame that provides support for refrigerator 10.

A breaker strip 22 extends between a case front flange and outer frontedges of inner liners 18 and 20. The breaker strip 22 is formed from asuitable resilient material, such as an extrudedacrylo-butadiene-styrene based material (commonly referred to as ABS).The insulation in the space between inner liners 18 and 20 is covered byanother strip of suitable resilient material, which also commonly isreferred to as a mullion 24 and may be formed of an extruded ABSmaterial. Breaker strip 22 and mullion 24 form a front face, and extendcompletely around inner peripheral edges of the outer case 16 andvertically between inner liners 18 and 20.

Slide-out drawers 26, a storage bin 28 and shelves 30 are normallyprovided in fresh food storage compartment 12 to support items beingstored therein. In addition, at least one shelf 30 and at least one wirebasket 32 are also provided in freezer storage compartment 14.

The refrigerator features are controlled by a controller 34 according touser preference via manipulation of a control interface 36 mounted in anupper region of fresh food storage compartment 12 and coupled to thecontroller 34. As used herein, the term “controller” is not limited tojust those integrated circuits referred to in the art as microprocessor,but broadly refers to computers, processors, microcontrollers,microcomputers, programmable logic controllers, application specificintegrated circuits, and other programmable circuits, and these termsare used interchangeably herein.

A freezer door 38 and a fresh food door 40 close access openings tofreezer storage compartment 14 and fresh food storage compartment 12.Each door 38, 40 is mounted by a top hinge 42 and a bottom hinge (notshown) to rotate about its outer vertical edge between an open position,as shown in FIG. 1, and a closed position. The freezer door 38 mayinclude a plurality of storage shelves 44 and a sealing gasket 46, andfresh food door 40 also includes a plurality of storage shelves 48 and asealing gasket 50.

The freezer storage compartment 14 may include an automatic ice maker 52and a dispenser 54 provided in the freezer door 38 such that ice and/orchilled water can be dispensed without opening the freezer door 38, asis well known in the art. Doors 38 and 40 may be opened by handles 56 isconventional. A housing 58 may hold a water filter 60 used to filterwater for the ice maker 52 and/or dispenser 54.

As with known refrigerators, the refrigerator 10 also includes amachinery compartment (not shown) that at least partially containscomponents for executing a known vapor compression cycle for coolingair. The components include a compressor, a condenser, an expansiondevice, and an evaporator connected in series as a loop and charged witha refrigerant. The evaporator is a type of heat exchanger whichtransfers heat from air passing over the evaporator to the refrigerantflowing through the evaporator, thereby causing the refrigerant tovaporize. The cooled air is used to refrigerate one or more refrigeratoror freezer compartments via fans. Also, a cooling loop can be added todirect cool the ice maker to form ice cubes, and a heating loop can beadded to help remove ice from the ice maker. Collectively, the vaporcompression cycle components in a refrigeration circuit, associatedfans, and associated compartments are conventionally referred to as asealed system. The construction and operation of the sealed system arewell known to those skilled in the art.

FIGS. 3-5 show one example of an ice dispenser system 70 according tocertain aspects of the invention. As shown therein, ice dispenser system70 is a door-mounted system. Accordingly, ice dispenser system 70 wouldtypically be mounted on freezer door 38. However, aspects of the presentdisclosure are also applicable to systems mounted elsewhere, whether ona door or elsewhere within a refrigerated compartment. Accordingly, thedepicted location on freezer door 38 or within freezer compartment 14are not limiting.

As shown, ice dispenser system includes a conventional ice makerassembly 72, an ice bucket assembly 74, and a dispensing motor assembly76. These elements are mounted to a housing 78 attached to door 38.

Ice maker 72 may be a conventional automatic icemaker that makes anumber of ice cubes at a time automatically from a water source. Icemaker 72 may therefore make 6-8 cubes per cycle, and over 100 ice cubesper day, for example, in ice molds 80. Ice cubes are dumped periodicallyinto ice bucket assembly 74 in a conventional fashion. A feeler arm 82may be provided as a shut off in case ice bucket assembly becomes fullor clogged. Accordingly, if an ice cube level in bucket assembly reachesfeeler arm 82 causing it to move, then ice maker 72 may be automaticallyshut off by controller 34. Similarly, if a user manually moves thefeeler arm 82 to the shut off position ice maker 72 may shut off.Therefore, ice maker 72 as described is conventional and any variety ofautomatic ice makers for supplying ice bucket assembly 74 could be used.

Ice bucket assembly 74 includes an ice bucket 84 having a base 86 withan opening 88 in it for dispensing ice when desired by a user. Icebucket assembly 74 may further include a rotatable internal arm 90 forassisting in moving ice cubes down and through opening 88 when desiredand for breaking up and clumped together ice cubes. A motor (not shown)located within dispensing motor assembly 76 has a drive mechanism 92which engages a complimentary receiver 94 in ice bucket assembly 74 forrotating arm 90 within ice bucket 84.

Typically, a cover such as plate 96 is provided to shield the motor frommoisture above and within ice bucket 94. Plate 96 has an opening 98corresponding to opening 88 at the base of ice bucket 84. A trap door100 may be provided in housing 78, either spring loaded to a closedposition to be opened by the gravitational force of dispensed ice cubesor mechanically opened for dispensing. Trap door 100 keeps cold air inthe freezer compartment 14.

When a user operates a button 99 or paddle (not shown) within dispenser54 indicating a desire for ice cubes, trap door 100 can open or beopened, the motor can operate internal arm 90 (or auger or other device)within ice bucket 84, etc., to dispense ice to a user. Again, variousconfigurations and locations for these items are possible, and use ofvarious conventional designs for in-door and in-compartment ice makersand buckets are possible.

As shown in FIG. 3, a sensor 110 may be located within refrigerationappliance 10 to sense and provide a signal as to whether ice bucket 84is properly installed in its ice making position. Sensor 110 may be forexample a mechanical switch that is moved upon installing ice bucketproperly. Sensor 110 may be located at various locations within housing78 so as to be contacted and displaced by ice bucket 84 when installed.As shown, sensor 110 is located in a location extending through motorcover plate 96.

Sensor 110, ice maker 74, its water source (not shown), and all movingparts described above may be connected to a controller such ascontroller 34 or a separate controller within refrigeration appliance10. Accordingly, ice maker 74 may only be placed in a ice making stateif sensor 110 provides a signal to the controller that ice bucket 84 isin the ice making position within housing 78. Ice maker 74 will notoperate if ice bucket 84 is not present at all or is not inserted fullyor properly into housing 78. If desired, an indicator 112 such as alight may be placed within or on the front of the refrigerationappliance to indicate that ice bucket sensor 110 has (or has not) sensedthat ice bucket 84 is in the ice making position. The indicator may alsoinclude a speaker to provide an audible notice (a periodic beep, forexample) to a user that the ice bucket is not in place.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of placement of sensor 110 within housing78, pivotably extending though a surface 114 of plate 96. Again, itshould be understood that sensor 110 could be anywhere within housing 78impacted by a properly inserted ice bucket, such as surfaces 116, 118,120, 122, 124, etc. Sensor 110 as shown is a pivoting electromechanicalswitch type device, although it could also be a push button, springand/or reed switch, potentiometer, or any other electromechanical typedevice.

FIG. 6 shows an alternate sensor 126 located so as to sense a weight ofan ice bucket. Sensor 126 could therefore comprise a strain gauge,piezoelectric device, pressure mat, or any other electronic weightsensing device. Sensor 126 could be located on any surface withinhousing 78 that would bear weight from a properly inserted ice bucket,and should be sensitive enough and/or oriented properly to sense anempty bucket.

FIG. 7 shows another alternate sensor 126, in this case an opticaldevice. Optical sensor 126 has a transmitter 128 and a receiver 130.Optical sensor 126 should again be located so that receiver does notsense the presence of the ice bucket until properly and fully inserted.

FIG. 8 shows one possible control algorithm for ice dispenser assembliesaccording to the present disclosure. As shown therein, when therefrigeration appliance is turned on the system is at start position200. The ice making unit is turned on at step 202 by the controllerresponsible for doing so. Ice making is thus initiated 204. At step 206,the signal from the ice bucket sensor is evaluated by the controller anda decision is made at step 208. If the ice bucket is in position, theice making unit remains on and ice production is continued 204. As longas the ice bucket sensor keeps noting that the ice bucket is in place,ice making continues. Ice making may be stopped for other reasons, forexample in case of an ice bucket full signal (not shown) or the like. Ifhowever, a signal is not received from the ice bucket sensor that theice bucket is in place, the controller sends a signal 212 to the icemaker and the ice maker is turned off 214. Optionally, a signal 216 mayalso be provided to a user by way of a light on the front of therefrigeration appliance, audible signal, etc. that the ice bucket is notin place.

In view of the above, an ice dispenser assembly, a refrigerationappliance and a method of operating an ice dispenser assembly areprovided where beneficially ice is not made if an ice bucket is notproperly inserted in place to receive ice from an ice maker. Acontroller receives signals from a sensor as to whether the ice bucketis in place. If the ice bucket is not in place, the controller placesthe ice maker in a standby state and does not place the ice maker in anice making state. No further ice cubes are dumped into an ice bucketfrom the ice maker unless and until the ice bucket sensor senses thatthe ice bucket has been placed. Such sensor-based system can work withice buckets located in a door, compartment, surface, shelf, or anywhereelse for that matter.

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention,including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the invention, including making and using any devices orsystems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope ofthe invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examplesthat occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intendedto be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elementsthat do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if theyinclude equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differencesfrom the literal languages of the claims.

1. An ice dispenser system for a refrigeration appliance, the systemcomprising: an ice maker located within the refrigeration appliance formaking ice cubes, the ice maker having an ice making state and a pausedstate; an ice bucket located within the refrigeration appliance locatedso as to receive the ice cubes from the ice maker, the ice bucket beingremovably securable in the refrigeration appliance in an ice-makingposition; and a sensor located within the refrigeration appliance, thesensor sensing and providing a signal as to whether the ice bucket is inthe ice making position, the ice maker being in the ice making stateonly when the sensor provides a signal that the ice bucket is in the icemaking position.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is aswitch activated by placing the ice bucket in the ice-making position.3. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is a weight sensoractivated by placing the ice bucket in the ice-making position.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the sensor is an optical sensor activated byplacing the ice bucket in the ice-making position.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, further including an indicator for providing an indication ofwhether the ice bucket is in the ice making position.
 6. The system ofclaim 1, further including a controller, the controller receiving thesignal from the sensor and, responsive to the signal, signaling the icemaker as to whether the ice maker should be in the ice making state orthe paused state.
 7. The system of claim 6, further including anindicator for providing an indication of whether the ice bucket is inthe ice making position responsive to the signal.
 8. A refrigerationappliance comprising: a refrigerated cabinet; an ice maker locatedwithin the refrigerated cabinet for making ice cubes, the ice makerhaving an ice making state and a paused state; an ice bucket locatedwithin the refrigerated cabinet located so as to receive the ice cubesfrom the ice maker, the ice bucket being removably securable in therefrigerated cabinet in an ice-making position; and a sensor locatedwithin the refrigerated cabinet, the sensor sensing and providing asignal as to whether the ice bucket is in the ice making position, theice maker being in the ice making state only when the sensor provides asignal that the ice bucket is in the ice making position.
 9. The freezerof claim 8, further including an indicator for providing an indicationof whether the ice bucket is in the ice making position.
 10. The freezerof claim 9, wherein the indicator is located on the outside of therefrigerated cabinet.
 11. The freezer of claim 9, wherein the indicatorprovides the indication when the ice bucket is not in the ice makingposition.
 12. The freezer of claim 9, wherein the sensor is a weightsensor activated by placing the ice bucket in the ice-making position.13. The freezer of claim 9, wherein the indicator provides a firstindication when the ice bucket is not in the ice making position and asecond indication when the ice bucket is in the ice making position. 14.The freezer of claim 9, further including a controller, the controllerreceiving the signal from the sensor and, responsive to the signal,signaling the ice maker as to whether the ice maker should be in the icemaking state or the paused state.
 15. A method of controlling an icemaker for a refrigeration appliance with a removable ice bucket, themethod comprising: sensing whether the ice bucket is in an ice makingposition; operating the ice maker to make ice if the sensing step sensesthat the ice bucket is in the ice making position; and halting operationof the ice maker if the sensing step senses that the bucket is not inthe ice making position.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising,after the halting step, sensing whether the ice bucket is in an icemaking position and resuming operation of the ice maker if the icebucket is in the ice making position.
 17. The method of claim 15,further including providing an indication of whether the ice bucket isin the ice making position responsive to the sensing step.